The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Chapter 332 Ming Dynasty: Yangming's Philosophy of Mind

The fourth stage of the development of Confucianism was when Yangming's Philosophy of Mind pushed Confucianism to its peak.

When talking about Yangming's Philosophy of Mind, we have to mention Wang Yangming, the master of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

In Chinese history, there were two saints who achieved the three immortal realms of establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establishing words.

One of them is Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, and the other is Wang Yangming, who is known as the last saint in Chinese history.

The Yangming School of Mind, founded by Wang Yangming, was born five hundred years ago, but it has embodied the essence of China's five thousand years of culture.

Yangming's Philosophy of Mind is recognized as the essence of Chinese traditional culture and is therefore sought after by the public.

"During the Southern Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianists regarded the mind as the origin of all things, and proposed that the mind is the principle, believing that the mechanism of the universe and all things is in the human mind."

"Wang Yangming, a famous official in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, inherited and enriched this theory, and later generations called the theory of this school Yangming Xinxue."

"Wang Yangming was born in a family of top scholars. He was extremely talented and was good at both civil and military affairs."

"As the commander-in-chief, he wiped out the banditry and put down the Ning Wang Rebellion, and did a lot of great things."

"Wang Yangming believed that the root cause of social unrest was the thief in people's hearts. It is easy to defeat the thief in the mountains, but it is difficult to defeat the thief in the heart."

“Only by eliminating the thief in people’s hearts can we achieve social stability and enable people to live and work in peace and contentment.”

"Wang Yangming realized the core content of Yangming's philosophy of mind in Longchang, Guizhou."

"That is the way of the sage. My nature is self-sufficient. Those who seek the truth in things are mistaken."

"This sentence has three main meanings: the heart is the principle, knowledge and action are one, and conscience is the key."

"The heart is the principle, which means to bring the external heavenly principle back to the inner heart, which is also the way of the sage and the self-sufficiency of my nature."

“All things are one, and all things are in the heart, which avoids the division and separation between the inside and the outside, and between the heart and reason.”

"The unity of knowledge and action is the remedy proposed by Wang Yangming for the social atmosphere of knowing but not doing, and the separation of knowledge and action in the Ming Dynasty."

“Knowledge is the idea of ​​action, action is the effort of knowledge, knowledge is the beginning of action, action is the completion of knowledge.”

"To cultivate conscience is a convenient method Wang Yangming used to teach people how to reach the state of a saint."

"If we follow our inner conscience and extend it to everything in the world, everyone can become a saint."

"Yangming's philosophy of mind, with its simple and easy-to-understand methods, breaks the myth that only a few elite people can become saints."

"It denies the constraints of external laws and authority, and upholds the subjective spirit and free will of human beings."

"It posed a serious challenge to the official orthodox thought of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which had lasted for 500 years since the Song Dynasty. It played an important role in the liberation and enlightenment of thought in the history of Chinese and world philosophy."

Zhang Juzheng: It was because of Wang Yangming’s inner strength that he achieved his later great achievements.

Wang Yangming’s ability to become a saint had a lot to do with his prominent family.

Since ancient times, when great men were born, there would be all kinds of strange phenomena. So Wang Yangming was naturally different from ordinary people when he was born.

It is said that Wang Yangming's mother was pregnant for fourteen months. Before giving birth, she dreamed of a god dressed in scarlet jade, playing a trumpet in the clouds, and descending from the sky with a baby in his arms.

When Wang Yangming grew up, he began to think about the orthodox Confucianism of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

Afterwards, Wang Yangming followed Zhu Xi's advice of "investigating things to gain knowledge" and spent seven days and seven nights investigating the bamboo in front of his door.

In the end, Wang Yangming fainted from hunger, and then he developed a deep hatred towards Zhu Xi and began to question Neo-Confucianism. This was also the beginning of his legendary journey.

Wang Yangming’s extraordinary intelligence was inseparable from his father’s training.

Wang Yangming's father, Wang Hua, was the top scholar in the imperial examination, and was outstanding in both knowledge and character.

Wang Hua is not only smart, but also has qualities that make him a role model for a generation.

It is said that when Wang Hua was a child, he once saw a drunk man drop a purse full of gold by the river, so he quietly sank the purse into the water and then stood quietly by waiting for the owner.

As a result, after waiting for a whole day, I finally got the person back.

After careful identification and confirmation that it was the real owner, Wang Hua took the money bag out of the water and returned it to him.

The owner was overjoyed and immediately offered to give Wang Hua a gold ingot as a reward.

Wang Hua refused. He didn't even want a bag of gold, so why would he accept a gold ingot?

It was Wang Hua's noble qualities that deeply influenced Wang Yangming's path to sainthood.

When Wang Yangming was eleven years old, he was determined to make studying and becoming a sage the top priority in his life.

To realize this ambition, he endured many hardships.

First he failed the imperial examination, and then his official career was not smooth.

He was framed because he wrote a letter to the emperor asking him to punish the eunuchs.

Not only was he beaten with forty sticks in the court, he was also demoted to work in Guizhou.

Wang Yangming's experience was heartbreaking, but he remained calm and composed.

After going through so much, he can still go with the flow, which is enough to show how strong his heart is.

From being exiled to Longchang to attaining enlightenment in Longchang, and then to his later struggle against Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

Wang Yangming let nature take its course, did not violate his conscience, followed the laws of nature, and made progress step by step, eventually making Yangming's Philosophy of Mind an academic theory that was admired by everyone.

It is precisely because Wang Yangming was able to follow his heart, not force anything, and let everything take its course that he became a saint who is admired by people.

"The heart is the principle. There is already a world of thought in the heart of man, which has all the conditions to become a perfect person."

"Once Wang Yangming was traveling with a friend, and his friend pointed to the wild flowers and trees among the rocks and asked about them."

"There is nothing in the world outside of one's mind. Flowers and trees bloom and fall on their own in the mountains. What does that have to do with my mind?"

"Wang Yangming believed that a flower in the wild is just quietly hidden deep in your heart when you don't see it."

"You already have the image of this flower in your heart, but you yourself are not aware of it. However, this does not prevent the flower from existing in your heart."

“When you see this flower, the physical flower activates the flower within you.”

"The physical flower is like a password. The password can verify that you already have this flower in your heart."

"Wang Yangming and Zhu Xi conflicted over their different understandings of the concept of "investigating things to gain knowledge."

"Zhu Xi believed that people's hearts are originally empty and contain nothing."

“We must study things to achieve knowledge, and through hard work and practice, we can fill our empty hearts.”

"Wang Yangming took a different approach, believing that all the phenomena, principles, mechanisms, and truths of the real world are already inherently embedded in people's minds."

"Why do people know that sugarcane is sweet? Why do people know the fragrance of flowers? The sense of taste is innate."

"For example, if you told Wang Yangming that he couldn't drive, he would definitely not agree."

"He would say that the driving skills are already deep in his heart. He can drive, but the driving skills need to be activated through practice."

"What Wang Yangming meant was not to learn driving skills that you don't have from outsiders, but to activate the driving skills you already have."

"For example, people can activate driving skills through practice."

"And pigs can't drive because they don't have the technology preprogrammed in their minds."

"Zhu Xi was different. He concluded that the human heart is completely empty at the beginning."

“If people want to grow and increase their knowledge, they must bring the knowledge and skills from the outside world into their hearts.”

"When Wang Yangming was young, he experimented with Zhu Xi's "Investigation of Things to Gain Knowledge" and personally investigated the principles of bamboo. He spent three days and three nights investigating but could not find any principles."

"Wang Yangming believed that people themselves have everything. As long as they get rid of the false and keep the true, as long as they activate it through practice, as long as they remove the bad and keep the good and conscience, they can eventually become saints."

"For example, a mirror can reflect something, but if it is covered with dust, it cannot reflect anything."

"At this point, you just need to remove the dirt and you can take a photo."

"Wang Yangming's method can make the general public feel that the path to sainthood is easier than before, and reduce people's fear of difficulties."

"From an inspirational perspective, Wang Yangming's thoughts are more interesting and have more room for imagination."

"So, in modern times, Wang Yangming's thoughts have been more popular and more popular than Zhu Xi's thoughts. This is why."

Chongzhen: Wang Yangming's Yangming Philosophy of Mind and Zhu Xi's Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism are fundamentally different.

The unity of knowledge and action is one of Wang Yangming's most important ideas. The relationship between knowledge and action emphasized involves the dialectics of the School of Mind and the School of Principle.

The relationship between knowledge and action has been a key topic discussed by Confucian sages since Confucius and Mencius.

Confucian scholars all know that there is a close relationship between knowledge and action, but they have always separated the two and discussed them separately.

Confucian scholars generally believe that learning is knowledge and practice is action, and that knowledge and action are two different things.

The difference between the School of Mind and the School of Principle can be illustrated by the example of braised pork.

According to physicist, the first step in making braised pork is to read the recipe.

After all, the recipe was written by the chef, so it must be correct.

How much meat is needed, how big the pieces should be, when to add oil, when to add meat, the ratio of seasonings, etc.

Understand all the steps first before you start doing it.

However, the School of Mind believes that one cannot learn by just looking at recipes, one should just do it and gain experience through practice.

For example, if you forget to add oil the first time you cook it, and forget to add salt the second time, you will be able to summarize your own recipes after making it a few more times.

One of the core ideas of psychology is that a chef’s recipe may not be suitable for you.

Both the study of psychology and the study of rationalism revolve around the study of knowledge and action, that is, the relationship between cognition and behavior.

Neo-Confucianism believes that knowledge comes before action. When you are hungry, you know what food can fill your stomach, so you eat.

That is, the understanding and cognition of things guides people's behavior.

The view of the School of Mind is exactly the opposite, believing that action comes before knowledge.

People know nothing at first and need to take action before they can summarize their understanding of things.

Eat when you are hungry, and only after you finish eating will you know if you are full.

"The unity of knowledge and action, Wang Yangming's unity of knowledge and action is based on the foundation that the heart is the principle."

“First, there is action in knowledge, and knowledge in action. Knowing is action. If you don’t know, you can’t do it. If you can’t do it, you don’t know.”

“Knowledge is equivalent to something that is set up for you by nature. It is a potential existence.”

"For example, the sweet taste, sour taste, etc., are all prepared for you."

"But if you have never eaten anything sweet in your life, you won't know what sweetness is, even though you have the sense of taste for sweetness."

"The process of eating is equivalent to action. Wang Yangming's unity of knowledge and action is about this."

"So Wang Yangming's knowledge and action cannot be separated. Knowledge and action seem to be the same thing and not the same thing, but the two are inseparable."

"It is for this reason that Wang Yangming stressed the significance and importance of practical action."

“The question of knowing and doing has always been a question that philosophers have pondered.”

“It is not only a philosophical question, but also a question closely related to our lives and existence.”

"In other words, the question of the unity of knowledge and action largely determines people's attitude towards life and spiritual practice."

"Traditional Confucianism believes that knowledge is the beginning of action, and the good or evil of knowledge is related to the good or evil of action, so Confucianism emphasizes conscience the most."

"You have to learn good things, not bad things. Once you learn bad things, your behavior will also be bad."

"On the basis of traditional Confucianism, Wang Yangming proposed the idea of ​​the unity of knowledge and action, creating a new world for Chinese Confucianism."

"Wang Yangming's basic proposition is the unity of knowledge and action, which roughly means that."

“Whether it is a person’s knowledge or behavior, the source is the moral law within the self, which is the essence of the heart.”

“Knowing and doing are the same thing, they cannot be separated, and there is no question of which comes first or which comes later.”

"That is to say, if you have a conscience, you should act accordingly. If you don't act, it doesn't count as conscience."

“So Wang Yangming said, ‘Knowledge is the beginning of action, and action is the completion of knowledge.’”

"Confucianism is based on the theory that human nature is inherently good. Conscience is the good thoughts deep in the hearts of human beings."

"Of course, humans are social animals and are influenced by the external environment, so they will have evil thoughts."

“So Wang Yangming clearly stated that the most fundamental purpose of his idea of ​​the unity of knowledge and action is to get rid of evil thoughts.”

"Because if I divide knowing and doing into two parts, I have evil thoughts in my heart, but I haven't done anything yet."

"That's not evil, we just don't know how to prohibit it. In fact, this is exactly the beginning of evil."

"Now we advocate the unity of knowledge and action. The knowledge of evil thoughts is the action." "Therefore, evil thoughts must be eliminated. This is the effect of the unity of knowledge and action."

Wang Yangming: Behind my success is the wisdom of integrating knowledge and action.

He is just a scholar and is in frail health.

However, he bravely fought against the eunuchs, put down the rebellion of Prince Ning, and quelled the banditry in Guangxi.

The key to being invincible in battle and conquering every enemy is to combine knowledge with action.

There are two key points behind the unity of knowledge and action. One is the important foundation theory in psychology: mind is reason.

The mind is the principle, which means everything can only be understood when human consciousness participates.

Don't be moved when you encounter things, no matter what happens, keep a calm heart.

When suppressing the Ning Wang Rebellion, he did not go to the front line. He was in charge of commanding while also teaching psychology in class.

When his generals were fighting against Prince Ning, he was probably talking about being as immovable as a mountain.

At this time, a battle report suddenly came from the front, saying that the situation was urgent, the beards of his generals were burned, and the morale of the troops at the front was in chaos.

At this time, he stood up, walked to the side, took the token and passed the order.

After that, anyone who talked about the general’s beard being burned would be executed immediately, and then the class was returned to the class.

Another key point of the unity of knowledge and action is the core of Yangming's philosophy of mind, which can be called the essence of the essence, that is, to pursue conscience.

The word "conscience" is actually a drop of blood and bones passed down by saints throughout the ages.

The conscience mentioned in Yangming's philosophy of mind comes from Mencius's "to be able to do things without learning is called ability, and to know things without thinking is called conscience."

Knowing the principles of nature and the great ways of the world is something that a person already has in their heart.

Everyone has a conscience, but it is obscured by various desires in reality.

Therefore, we must find this conscience, find the wisdom accumulated by our ancestors, and follow the guidance of the light within us.

Then keep honing it, sublimating it, inspiring a person's enormous abilities and making it continue to grow.

During the Ning Wang Rebellion, he was ordered by the emperor to go to Fujian to quell the mutiny of soldiers.

But when he heard the news of Prince Ning's rebellion, he immediately went to quell the rebellion without hesitation.

Think about the environment at that time. The history of Emperor Chengzu's Jingnan Campaign was there.

Coupled with the absurdity of Emperor Zhengde, Prince Ning had prepared for ten years, so it was entirely possible for him to succeed.

At that time, the memorials submitted by southern officials to the court did not mention that Prince Ning had rebelled, but rather that there had been changes in Jiangnan. They were all trying to protect themselves and leave a way out for themselves, but he was the only one who faced the challenge head-on.

He was also worried about himself and even asked his family to pile up firewood outside his house.

If the plan failed, they would never be captured and their entire family would set themselves on fire, which is enough to show how serious the situation was at that time.

The reason why he stood up was because he followed his conscience and the guidance of the light in his heart.

Know what to do and what not to do.

The wisdom of action all arises naturally, and this is the manifestation of conscience.

"To follow one's conscience, to follow one's conscience is also based on the foundation that the heart is reason."

"Wang Yangming emphasized that the human heart is governed by rules, and everyone has a conscience deep in their heart."

"Conscience, like everything else hidden deep within, needs to be constantly activated."

"Conscience is hidden deep in our hearts. We are tempted by all kinds of thoughts and can easily stray from our conscience if we are not careful."

“So Wang Yangming stressed the need to constantly eliminate the false and retain the true, and to get rid of the bad things in one’s heart.”

"Preserve the principles of heaven, eliminate human desires, and retain conscience. This process is called following conscience."

"The process of attaining conscience is also the process of integrating knowledge and action, so Wang Yangming emphasized that everyone should learn to be quiet and reflective, to hone their skills in practice, to experience true knowledge in practice, and to activate conscience."

"Compared with Zhu Xi's thought, Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind emphasizes humanism and human subjective initiative."

"Wang Yangming's advocacy of preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires is not the same as Zhu Xi's advocacy of preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires."

"The two people have different ideas about Heaven's principles. Zhu Xi's Heaven's principles refer to feudal ethics, while Wang Yangming's Heaven's principles refer to human nature."

"Wang Yangming stressed that doing things should be based on the principle of not violating conscience and emphasizing having a clear conscience."

"As long as it doesn't go against your conscience, you can do it."

"The human desires that Zhu Xi wanted to eliminate are normal human desires."

"The human desires that Wang Yangming wanted to get rid of were not normal human desires."

"It is the thief in the heart, the evil thoughts in people's hearts, the evil thoughts that go against their conscience."

"In real life, some things are illegal and some are immoral, but they do not necessarily go against conscience."

"For example, some people were starving to death on the streets, so they had no choice but to steal food."

"In Wang Yangming's view, this matter can be forgiven and does not violate conscience."

"For example, Zhang Xueliang once launched the Xi'an Incident, detained his leader Chiang Kai-shek, and forced Chiang to resist the Japanese."

"According to Zhu Xi's thought, this is illegal and against the principles of heaven."

"But according to Wang Yangming's thought, it was possible, because at that time, the whole nation's resistance to the war was the conscience, and civil war was unpopular, so Zhang Xueliang had a clear conscience."

Xu Guangqi: Although Yangming's philosophy of mind is good, the emperor admired Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism more.

The emperors did so because Neo-Confucianism belongs to the philosophy of rulers.

Neo-Confucianism believes that people must first have an understanding of things before they can take action.

This understanding comes from Zhu Xi, a representative figure of Neo-Confucianism, who said that people are born knowing many things.

There are many things that saints have told us, such as Confucius said that this thing must be done this way, and no other way is possible.

The only correct thing to do is to follow the teachings of Confucius and other sages.

In general, no matter what you do, you must abide by certain codes of conduct.

For example, requiring women to follow the three obediences and four virtues is the code of conduct for women.

For example, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues are all norms that constrain the behavior of ordinary people.

Of course, the emperor likes this kind of thinking. The common people and officials must be loyal to the emperor, which can better maintain the emperor's ruling status.

But Wang Yangming said, why should the principles said by saints and wise men be necessarily correct?
Wang Yangming felt that there were no true saints and no completely correct theoretical guidance.

Everything requires practice, and only practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

To see if the recipe is correct, you have to make it first.

We must have the courage to question authority, then verify it through practice before we can finally draw conclusions.

Therefore, Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind encourages people to cross the river by feeling the stones, and it does not matter if there is no theoretical guidance.

As long as the general direction is correct, just go for it. Many problems will arise in the process.

When you encounter a problem, summarize your experience and then you can summarize a theory that suits you.

In practice, constantly correct your understanding of things, and finally achieve the unity of knowledge and action.

Wang Yangming also believed that everyone has conscience.

The so-called conscience includes both goodness and knowledge.

That is, the innate conscience, or compassion, and innate wisdom.

To go further, conscience is the pure and bright original heart that everyone possesses.

Conscience comes from within one’s heart and does not need to be sought from outside or depend on external things.

Only by following one's conscience can one know one's true heart, respond to ever-changing situations with constancy, and make plans and win battles thousands of miles away.

"Although Wang Yangming's thought brought Confucianism to its peak, the Ming Dynasty rulers never made Wang Yangming's teachings official."

"Decades after Wang Yangming's death, during the Wanli period, Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind spread widely among the people."

"At this time, a minister wrote to Emperor Wanli, asking the court to ban the spread of Yangming's philosophy among the people, but Emperor Wanli ignored it."

"Yangming's philosophy of mind has a positive role in promoting the liberation of human nature and returning to human nature, which is similar to the Western Renaissance."

“If we treat people as human beings, return to human nature, do not make demands that cannot be met, and maintain tolerance within the scope of conscience, then it will not be difficult for people to succeed.”

"After Wang Yangming, some great Confucian scholars emerged, but none of them surpassed the peak of the School of Mind."

"Yangming's philosophy of mind is based on the inner heart of a person. It is a philosophy that makes people strong in their hearts and is also a force that helps people achieve success and reach the realm of sainthood."

"Why do people feel anxious? It comes from human desires and the uncertainty of the external environment."

"Only by tidying up your heart and settling your mind can you achieve what Su Dongpo said: 'wherever my heart is at peace is my hometown.'"

“Only then can we find a quiet spiritual home in a chaotic and complex society.”

"When Wang Yangming was dying, he said, 'This heart is bright, what else is there to say?'"

"When the heart is bright, the whole world seems to be brightened up as well."

"In the following hundreds of years, Wang Yangming and his theory of mind really illuminated the inner world of many people."

Wu Cheng'en: The Journey to the West that I compiled was also influenced by the trend of mind learning advocated by Wang Yangming.

The period when he lived was also the era when Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind flourished, so he was naturally influenced by the thoughts of Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind.

In his Journey to the West, he also implied the gradual development and growth of the philosophy of mind through the process of the four masters and apprentices' journey to the West.

The protagonist of his work, Sun Wukong, is actually somewhat similar to Wang Yangming.

Wang Yangming was demoted to Longchang, Guizhou, and served as the postmaster of Longchang Posthouse. In fact, Sun Wukong was also awarded the title of Bi Ma Wen.

It can be said that Wang Yangming's process of demotion was a life-and-death experience.

He escaped from the pursuit by the river and traveled thousands of miles to Longchang, Guizhou, where he lived in a dilapidated cave for a long time.

Suddenly, he had a spiritual connection with someone and realized the fundamental principle of life, which is known in history as the Enlightenment in Longchang.

In order to learn martial arts from a master, Sun Wukong traveled thousands of miles and suffered a lot of abuse and beatings.

After going through many hardships along the way, they finally arrived at the Xieyue Sanxing Cave on Fangcun Mountain. In fact, Fangcun and Xieyue Sanxing are both expressions of the Chinese character "heart".

Sun Wukong is known to fight gods and Buddhas, has flaming eyes and golden pupils, and is invincible.

This is actually a true portrayal of Wang Yangming. He wiped out the bandits who had been plaguing Jiangxi for decades, and put down the Ning Wang Rebellion on his own. He was full of the aura of personal heroism.

The tight hoop that Sun Wukong wears actually means that everyone must guard their own heart.

Eventually, the mind is liberated and the tight hoop will naturally disappear.

All of this is in line with Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind: My heart is bright, what else can I ask for?

The core idea of ​​Yangming's philosophy of mind can also be summarized in one sentence.

The essence of the heart is neither good nor evil, the existence of good and evil is the movement of the heart, the ultimate good and the ultimate evil is conscience, and doing good and eliminating evil is conscience.

In a nutshell, it’s about conscience.

Taoism pursues becoming an immortal, Buddhism pursues becoming a Buddha, Confucianism pursues self-cultivation and becoming a saint, and the philosophy of mind pursues the word conscience.

Yangming's philosophy of mind divides the mind into secular mind and sacred mind, and the process of pursuing conscience is the process of transcending the ordinary and becoming a saint.

This process requires certain skills and efforts. From learning to practice, it is the unity of knowledge and action.

The story of Tang Monk and his disciples from their personal experiences to their journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures.

It is the whole process of pursuing conscience and integrating knowledge and action, and the final result is transcendence and becoming a saint.

Jin Chanzi behaved disrespectfully when the Buddha was preaching, and was banished to the mortal world to reincarnate.

The stone monkey was born a god, but due to his arrogance and vanity, he caused chaos in the Heavenly Palace and was suppressed by the Buddha for five hundred years.

Zhu Bajie was originally the number one general in the Milky Way. He was demoted for his immoral behavior after drinking and molesting Chang'e.

Sha Seng had the same fate. He was originally the curtain-raiser general in heaven, but was demoted to the mortal world for breaking a glass lamp.

Little White Dragon was even more miserable. He was nearly cut into pieces just for breaking the Dinghai Pearl.

In short, the four masters and apprentices came together by chance and began a journey of returning home.

The mission of obtaining Buddhist scriptures is of great significance to the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, but for the study of psychology, it is more of a kind of self-training for the four masters and apprentices.

(End of this chapter)